Sometimes, on spring and summer evenings, I enjoy sitting outside, or maybe just by an open window, where I can listen to the day come to an end. The chipmunk scolds me for one last time before turning in for the night; the red-bellied woodpecker chatters about something; the seemingly perpetually annoyed and rowdy robin complains about what I know not; the tanager “chip-burrs” for several minutes; and sometimes a whip-poor-will whistles his name in several refrains after the last hints of daylight have yielded to the night.

Late one night this past summer, after I had been asleep for some time, I was awakened, or so I thought, by a familiar sound, but one that I had not heard since relocating my residence. I heard, from very close to my bedroom window, a whinnying screech owl’s plaintive cry. Could I have been dreaming of some past bird count that had sent me into the early morning darkness in search of nocturnal avifauna, or was it real? If it was real, what could possibly have attracted the owl so close to my window? Perhaps I snore like the Three Stooges. On the other hand, if it was just a dream, then the dream also found me leaning on the windowsill listening until the fellow, I presume, either was frightened away by my shadowy figure or had decided to silence his voice after having been convinced by my now awake state, in my dream at least, that he had successfully dispatched the rival that had provoked him into vocally defending his territory. To this day, I continue to wonder if the owl had really accosted me or some actual rival, or if it all had been just a dream.

While the accosting owl might have been just a dream, I am quite certain of the reality that is the financial support that your Chapter receives from you, its members, each year. That support allows your leaders to publish the Chapter newsletter, Valley Views, to maintain a presence on the Worldwide Web, and to send youngsters to nature camps each year. Moreover, knowing that we can count on your support frees us from having to conduct multiple fundraising projects, and that freedom in turn allows us to spend more time dreaming up ways by which we can bring nature to people through our meeting programs and bring people to nature through our field trips. Scolding chipmunks and red-bellied woodpeckers are waiting to see us on the trail. So, I ask that you once again help us to dream big with your generous financial support.

Thank you for your generosity.

Yours in Nature,

Bob Wasilewski

Yes, I want to help you to dream big by supporting the GWVAS’s programs and activities. Enclosed is my tax-deductible gift made payable to the GWVAS.